Review: Lola and the Boy Next Door

Lola Nolan is a budding costume designer, and for her, the more outrageous, sparkly, and fun the outfit, the better. And everything is pretty perfect in her life (right down to her hot rocker boyfriend) until the Bell twins, Calliope and Cricket, return to the negihborhood. When Cricket, a gifted inventor, steps out from his twin sister’s shadow and back into Lola’s life, she must finally reconcile a lifetime of feelings for the boy next door.

This book. I have discovered a massive love for Stephanie Perkins and her writing. Her characters can wring so many emotions out of you in one sitting, that you sit there afterwards staring into space, wondering what just happened.

Lola was an adorable book, one that I adore. I was flip-flopping between frustration, love, upset, and cooing at the two main characters’ cuteness. I finished the book, and just sat there hugging it, sort of giddy. When an author manages to bring this out of me, they have me for life.

Lola was such a quirky character, which made her intriguing. She has a passion for dressing in costumes and bright colors that I just adore; I sometimes I wish I had more of her spunk. She lives with her two fathers, who have raised her since birth. We find out more about her story as the book goes on. We find out in the beginning of the book that she is dating Max, a 22 year old wannabe rock singer (she’s 17). Their whole relationship completely pissed me off, for the most part because he is a jerk (I called him much worse in my head, believe me). Their relationship bothered me on so many levels, mostly because she felt like, if she changed for him, he would still want to be with her; he was supposed to be “the one”. I had so many issues with that.

When the Bell twins return to the neighborhood, things get interesting and emotions get messy. When I first met Cricket, that just increased my loathing for Max; I kept asking myself when she and Max would break up and she would get together with Cricket. Oh Cricket. I loved Cricket; he was such a shy, sweet guy, someone I would love to have for myself. I love how patient he is with her, how he waits for her to figure things out, and how he engineers things for her. They were completely adorable. I won’t say anymore because I don’t want to ruin the book.

All I will say is that you will love this book. The characters are adorable, the story sucks you in, and before you know it, it’s over and you just stare ahead of you chanting in your head “i love this book, i love this book”.